A Mother's Promise
by Clirkus
Summary: A one-shot tribute to Cubone's mother, Marowak.


**Author's Note:** Out of convenience, I'll just be converting Pokemon language into human language. Oh, and for those of you who don't know very much japanese, 'Hikari' translates into 'Light' when translated into English.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or the song "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift.

**Chapter 1: The Birth, The Lullaby, and The Promise**

Out of the brewing thunderstorm in the nighttime sky, a resounding boom roared through the chilling, ominous cave known as the Rock Tunnel. Amongst the stalagmites, stone pillars, and boulders of the Rock Tunnel lay a small, modest sized nest. At first glance, you wouldn't see anything other than a few small rocks scattered here and there. However, upon further inspection there is much more going on with this nest than meets the eye. Lying amongst the various ordinary stones and pebbles is what appears to be an oddly colored rock with a perfectly ovular shape. The top of this rock is an ashen-tinted white while the bottom half seems to be a mix of caramel and chocolate browns. From the shadows of the Rock Tunnel an odd looking bipedal creature wielding a femur bone as a club sauntered towards the nest.

The Marowak briefly scanned the nest to make sure no person or creature had stolen or tampered with any of her things before propping her bone club up against a stalagmite at the nest's entrance. She performed a quick scan of the nest; apprehension suddenly fills her being as she starts to quickly move things around her nest as if searching for something. Once her blackish golden eyes rested upon the odd stone her gaze softened immensely.

She picked the stone up and cradled it in her arms as one would a baby. At that exact moment the stone began to radiate a shockingly bright, white light. With a (pleasantly) surprised smile adorning her face, the female Marowak walked towards the small circular pile of vegetation that is her bed and laid the glowing stone in the middle. The bright white light of the stone faded as cracks started to form all over its surface. A leg burst out of the bottom of the "odd stone" as a small tail burst from the back. The other leg burst out of the bottom soon after. The "stone" shakily got up on its feet for the first time. In an attempt at its first steps, the egg (by now it should be fairly obvious it's an egg) fell forward, causing even more cracks to litter the egg's surface. An arm breaks the upper right side of the egg; the left arm follows suit quickly after. Pieces of eggshell start to break and fall off of the baby as she (the baby) finally pushes her head through the top of the eggshell.

"Cubone..." yawns the infant. As she stood up to make another attempt at walking, the rest of the eggshell fell to the ground causing him to fall back on his rump again. Needless to say this did not bode well with little baby Cubone. Tears started welling up in baby Cubone's eyes. The female Marowak rushed to pick up her crying baby.

Mama Marowak's gaze lowered down affectionately at her baby girl in her arms. "Little one," said Mama Marowak, "How would you like having 'Hikari' as your name?" Little baby Cubone just looked up at her mother and gurgled while she gave her mother a gigantic smile. As Mama Marowak cuddled her baby girl, another clap of thunder from to thunderstorm outside rippled through the cavern. Hikari yelped in fear and further nuzzled into her mother's arms.

"Shh... shh..." whispered Mama Marowak to her crying baby girl, "Don't cry my bright, little light." Another clap of thunder rocked through the cave causing an already distressed baby Cubone became even more distressed. Mama Marowak struggled to find a way to calm her baby down enough so they could both get some sleep. An idea suddenly popped into her head.

"Hikari, how would you like it if I sung you a lullaby?" Mama Marowak asked her baby girl. Hikari slowly ceased her crying as she looked up at her mama before nodding vigorously, obviously excited. "When I myself was a little girl, my mother would sing this lullaby every time I cried," said Mama Marowak, smiling tenderly at the memories, "My mother called it 'Safe and Sound.'"

Mama Marowak set Hikari down on the bedding. Mama Marowak hummed as she allowed the words and the rhythmic beat of the song flow through her. Entranced by the beauty of the song, Hikari stared up with wonder-filled eyes at her mother. Closing her eyes, Mama Marowak began singing the haunting lullaby.

"_I remember tears streaming down your face_

_When I said, 'I'll never let you go'_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light_

_I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_Don't you dare look out your window darling_

_Everything's on fire_

_The war outside our door keeps raging on_

_Hold onto this lullaby_

_Even when the music's gone_

_Gone_

_Just close your eyes_

_The sun is going down_

_You'll be alright_

_No one can hurt you now_

_Come morning light_

_You and I'll be safe and sound_

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh_

_Oh, oh, oh, oh_

_Oh, oh, oh, oh_

_Just close your eyes_

_You'll be alright_

_Come morning light,_

_You and I'll be safe and sound..._

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh_

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh_

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh_

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh_

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh_

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh_

_Oooh, oooh, oooh, oooh oh oh"_

Mama Marowak's emotion filled voice brought tears to her eyes as she remembered what her mother had done for her. 'My mother was able to make the ultimate sacrifice for me when I was a child...' thought Mama Marowak to herself, a pang of sadness in her heart. Finally feeling the fatigue of the day weighing on her shoulders, she lay down on her bed with her daughter. Her final thoughts to her daughter before the serenity of sleep took over were: 'I will never allow any danger to come to my precious little girl... even if I have to sacrifice my own life to do so... I will be as good of a mother as my own mother was...' Resolve filling her very being, Mama Marowak finally gave herself over to the deepest and most fulfilling sleep she had ever had.

**Author's Note:**

Reviews would be much appreciated


End file.
